To even think about being up that high is terrifying to me, let alone lying down on that beam. But I guess you don't go down to the ground just to take a break. Truly brave souls.
@@JoseRodriguez-qc5jr I'm sure those nets would help after they hit every steel beam on the way down😂I've tried to be nice to you, but nothing makes me angrier " than a know it all" who actually KNOWS NOTHING AT ALL!!! GO AWAY JOSE!
It was fun to learn from my mom some years ago that my grandfather and uncles as part of the masonry trade, worked on both the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings.
Just watching those pictures gave me butterflies in my stomach and tingling my feet, how can those guys take nap on those steel beams at such heights is beyond me.
What’s even more impressive is how few people died making this particular building, with one man dying because he leaned in and looked up the elevator shaft as the elevator came in and squished him. I just don’t know how they did/do it. Most respect to them!
I fished commercially in the Bering Sea for 5 years. And I've owned a tree service for 25 years. But I would never walk on a 4 inch I-beam without a safety harness! Those guys were nuts!
That's what happens when we brainwash ourselves with "respect all" and "show love". Back then, respect was earned not given. Back then, people were brave to express themselves; for example, if someone hated you and you were talking to him, he would say that he hates you in your face. The toughen up attitude has died. Men are now less masculine and more feminine. We have become weaker and follow our feelings and desires and believe we are entitled to have it all. Back then, they used to follow their desires and work to earn them. Today, we step away from everything that dissatisfied us. Back then, they weren't afraid to leave their comfort zones. Each generation is getting weaker and weaker.
@The Wraith there used to be a lot of work, the reason that these people were risking their lives to construct a building was because they were paid decent wages, they could have accepted any other job.
Gracias por compartir estás maravillosas fotografías, mis respetos para estos trabajadores, que hermoso edificio construyeron, miro al cielo y dónde estén reciban un abrazo de mi espíritu.
THE SAFETY OF A LIFE IS ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT! DOESN'T MATTER WHAT ERA IN TIME! .... MUCH RESPECT FOR THE WORK ETHIC AND CONFIDENCE! .... THESE RISKS SHOULD NEVER EVER BE TAKEN AGAIN EVER!
Imagine scaffolding all the way up to the top even with the braces attached I would be shitting myself. I work at heights and have done scaffolding before. Don't think they had scaffolding back then or did they.
+Louis Wills-Fidock April,1930 to April ,1931 when the Empire State Building was built ,amazing that huge building only took a year to build.Today it would probably take 8 years to build.
I was an apprentice iron worker with local 387 for a year and two men died one from a fall the other by negligent Crain operator needless to say I had a very short apprenticeship and my respect for the work is immense
That took real guts to do what they did with no safety like today.I worked on chimney stacks in the UK in the 1960's and pylons and that was bad enough
You literally have to have nerves of steel to have done a job like this. Whether it was 10 or 1000 feet off the ground it made no difference to these men. They just didn't let it phase them.
Is it really that social for them? Maybe heights is something which doesn't phase them. How many would say they got fear of heights and did it anyways? Cos that would be bravery. Other than that, it's just a walk in the park.
Pretty amazing what these guys did to build this building!!! They've got nerves of steel no pun intended but damn I couldn't do that one wrong step and your dead!!! I tip my hat to these guys!!!
"Travis Krause" Yes. But also certain people are just meant to do certain jobs. I recall when I was a child, my parents hired a group of moving men to move furniture from their ( my parent's) apartment on a lower floor of an old building to an apartment that was some four floors up, NO elevator in the building. One of the moving men carried a heavy refrigerator on his back up the steps from the lower to the upper apartment. He was not some huge burly guy but a regular sized, even skinny guy. When my dad told him that he did an amazing job. The guy pointed to his shoulders and back and said "I am strong here and here," then he pointed to his head and said "I have nothing up here." It seems that these men who work in construction , at least in the past, were cut out to do hard labor but they often were under educated and do such work because it is mainly all they can do.
@@obscurelyvague I get where your coming from but I was bull myself but also considered very smart according to the tell tale IQ test but heres the thing I was very strong even as a child so I've been told but I ate hard work up like it was candy loved it even!!! But it also was what I had to do because when me and siblings were youngsters our parents couldn't afford to put us through college!!! They acquired money later in life and we were to old and set in our ways to go to school!!!
@@traviskrause8509 Thanks for your perspective. Really it is informative and interesting. The thing too, is that a lot of men probably can do hard physical work while they are a certain age, but then when they get older (perhaps well before they even turn 40) they can develop back or other problems and can no longer do hard physical work as they used to. I have heard some guys say that they used to be strong when younger but then got injured.
@@obscurelyvague ya I suppose its different for many but alot of it too is they have no heart just there for a paycheck which is a petpeave of mine!!! And alot of people talk a big game and that's all it is to them! But it didn't matter what I was doing and for how much but they always got 110% out me a man with no heart is worthless in my opinion!!!
Can't imagine also the weather conditions those guys put up with. Winds rain etc. Guess weather didn't brother them much. They were to tough they beat the weather. Can't imagine what all these men went through to build the Empire State Building. Bet be nice if we could hear some of their stories.Be so fascinating to just listen to them.
Incredible! What's almost unbelievable is that according to official records, only 5 men died during its construction. And of those, only two from falls. Bear in mind that, at its peak, there were around 3000 men working simultaneously.
"Daryl Hard" also a good sense of balance. I sometimes wonder if such workers were ever trapeze artists or tightrope walkers in a circus first.. If not, then one has to wonder how they get he skill. It has nothing to do with merely having a dad or uncle who did it.
Ok, they were crazy. Nah, buy seriously, I appreciate and truly respect these brave men for giving us such an iconic structure to be proud of and admire
i work as a scaffolder now days you have to have a 100 % hook up as a scaffolder and if people are on the edges like that with out a harness and hook up it has to be fully hand railed by us if not its a firing offence for both on the spot these old men had balls
Apparently the construction was completed in 13 and a half months. Modern skyscrapers even if you’re 40-50 stories it takes 13 months long to just complete the concrete structure. Doing this back then with Steel structure just shows what an impressive feat it actually is.
That was with out a doubt the toughest generation in the history of America. Amazes me that so much of this type of stuff was build with out the automated equipment and basically zero safety equipment. Wow!! Much respect for my Father and Grandfather!
I bet this was extremely dangerous back in the 1930s but now people think it’s pretty hard to make but it’s actually probably pretty easy for modern day instructors.
1:04 ... simply an iconic picture bless those men .
4 года назад
I just hope they paid these guys well and gave them health insurance and pensions. I think every one of them who worked on this building should have their names engraved on a wall of skill, honor and bravery in the lobby.
Hoje em dia com tanta segurança, uniforme próprio e equipamentos para evitar acidentes e nessa época os trabalhadores se arriscando nas alturas...isso é mágico e muito corajosos trabalhar sob essas condiçoes adversas e mesmo assim construiram o predio mais famoso do mundo que é de admirar.
These men lived much better life, drinking tea/coffee , listening to the 40s music from radio, seeing the spectacular view of New York while constructing.
A lot of hard-drinking went on in the speakeasies (protected by Tammany police) after work every night and you can see why. The Mohawks would drive for 12 hours after clocking off on a Friday night, arriving home in Kahnawake, Quebec, in the early hours. Sunday afternoon they'd all drive back, another 12 hours, then straight onto the job, walking iron again hundreds of feet above the street by early Monday morning. These men were the unnamed legends of the era- no hard hats, no harnesses, no safety gear or tie-offs. Unsung heroes who deserved the real credit in the making of these iconic buildings. Breathtaking images.
Just imagine dropping your tools/equipment and having to go back to the ground to pick them up and go back up again God bless each and everyone single one of these hard working gentlemen and their families always.🌹✊🕊️🙏🇬🇧💎😎
"Cleavus Butkus" Anyone know the cost-of-living during those times? I guess a dollar an hour was at least decent pay. I recall a few decades ago, (maybe in the very late 1980s to mid 1990s) I overheard someone talking to someone else near a construction site and he said that construction workers make at least $100 an hour.
Some of these photos like the ones where the men are eating lunch and pretending to sleep on the girder aren't from the Empire State Building but are from the making of the RCA Building in 1932. The RCA building at Rockefeller Center (30 Rock) was later renamed the GE Building and finally the Comcast Building.
Canal projects had the highest total of construction worker deaths with 163,609 deaths in only four projects. Railway projects also had a large number with 107,200 spread across only two railroad projects. Tunnel and dam projects recorded a total of 772 and 733 construction worker deaths respectively. The construction of the empire state building recorded only 5 deaths even though 5 is still far to many it goes to show the skill, integrity and bravery of these men.
Es de gran admiración ver que en ese momento los verdaderos hombres tenían realmente unos nervios de acero para no temer trabajar en esas alturas sin las rigurosas normas de seguridad como en la actualidad. Gran valor de titanes.
Modern extreme people do this from time to time and are known throughout the world .. In the old days, builders were engaged in extreme sports for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and no one knew about them)
All the guys sitting beside each other when eating is crazy, i would eat alone cause one guy can just push u and ur done, u never know the guy beside u can make a mistake and ur done.
So I have an uncle that grow up in New England that was a iron worker and New England as a little boy I used to ask him all the time about what he did for work and that's what he told me so when I see these old movies about New York City it may reminds me of him I never saw and heard what he did what he built but I know he was in New England ironworker and that's all I know thank you very much Tim Flynn
I have been At The Empire State Building Twice , LastTime four Years Ago , And I Planning To Go One more Time , Its an Amazing ,Experience To Visit This Iconic Building In New York City And Also The Rockefeller Center 🗽
Some building sites eg the “Golden Gate” Bridge had huge nets for safety. Yes they had a few fatalities but not so many as these sites. Building sites are inherently dangerous.There are a few cowboys still who think they will not be hurt. All you need is to slip . Building sites in Victoria, Australia require guards on roofs over the 1st floor, rail on steps etc, just common sense stuff.
My grandfather worked on the Empire State Building he was an ironworker and his personality went past just “nerves of steel” his whole personality was like steel. I guess that’s the best personality to have if your going to fight in both world wars.
Un gran reconocimiento a todos esos obreros....Que dejaron todo,por hacer grande y famoso este inmenso edificio y rascacielos.....Gracias a sus manos y arte
Hard to believe that this amazing building was completed ahead of schedule and way under budget. Plus, only five workers were killed during the construction process. Two deaths took place in the basement!
